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The Electric Daisy Carnival, a three-day rave in Las Vegas this weekend, was expected to draw more than 70,000 people each night. The annual music festival previously took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where last summer a 15-year-old girl attending the festival died, spurring scrutiny of the event. The company that produces the festival, Insomniac Productions, subsequently moved the event to Las Vegas. The Electric Daisy Carnival, spread across five stages at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, features electronic dance music and performance artists. Rave fans like what they hear in a set by DJ David Guetta on Saturday, Night 2 of the Electric Daisy Carnival at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. An umbrella catches the shadow of a performer. This weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival in Vegas is a massive undertaking: a rave as county fair, with rides, a funhouse, fireworks, alcohol and multiple stages for music. |
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view Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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They call him the “Godfather.” For 14 years, John Watkins held supreme authority over the homeless encampments deep in the Hollywood hills. So it was with some trepidation that volunteers armed with clipboards picked their way up a rugged trail to his mountain hideaway one morning, hoping he would answer questions about his health and housing situation. Their goal: to identify and find homes for the 20 people at greatest risk of early death if left on the streets of Hollywood. Organizers of the grass-roots effort had no money to help those they interviewed. But they hoped that by putting names and faces to some of the most vulnerable residents, the community would rally to help. A year later, the early results are promising. Thirty-seven chronically homeless people are in apartments; 34 others are expected to be housed within weeks, and more than $800,000 has been raised to sustain the effort. Watkins, right, at an appointment with Orem. It took several months for volunteers to persuade Watkins, the "Godfather" of the Hollywood Hills, to move into an apartment. |
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view Helping the Hollywood Homeless as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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Goodyear blimps have been a regular sight in Southern California, even before World War II when the U.S. Navy used them to keep an eye on the West Coast. Now, Goodyear turns a new page as it will be working with German manufacturer ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik to build three new blimps beginning in 2013. Here’s a look at the Spirit of America and its grassy air field in Carson, as well as some historic photos of Goodyear blimps. Carlos Marquez, assistant chief airship mechanic and rigger, climbs the 30-foot mast that holds the Spirit of America in place to release the blimp for a flight, on May 4, 2011. The shadow of the blimp can be seen as the airship moves over the South Bay. |
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view Goodyear Blimp as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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The wind in West Texas is famously powerful and incessant. But this year, more big blows than anyone can remember have roared through, stripping away precious topsoil and carrying off another season of hope for farmers and ranchers. Everywhere, it seems, the land is on the move: sand building up in corners of the just-swept front porch and coating clean laundry on the line, dust up your nose and in crevices of farm machinery. Drive along unpaved county roads and the farmers’ plight becomes clear: Wind rakes across the unpaved surface, scouring sand into adjacent fields, sweeping into farmers’ deeply tilled furrows. In a normal year, the wheat would be about knee high. This is not a normal year; the anemic stalks barely rise above the heels of dusty boots. That’s bad news for a cotton crop, which must be planted in the furrows between the tall wheat stalks to shield the young plants from the wind-driven sand. Dry weeds surround a wooden cross in a field near the town of Verhalen. The state is suffering from a severe drought that is causing wildfires and hardship for ranchers and farmers. Fluvanna, Texas — Rancher Ralph Miller, 79, checks on one of many "stock tanks" of water that are receding because of a severe drought. "I'd say it's just about as bad as it can get," Miller said. Unless there is significant rain during the next few weeks, he said, "I'll be out of the cow business." Tanks are used to water Miller's cattle. "It's just so dry," said Matt Farmer, standing on rows of dirt that would normally be growing cotton this time of year. |
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view Drought in West Texas as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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The death toll has risen to 139 following the tornado that ripped into Joplin, Mo., destroying or damaging homes, a hospital and commercial buildings in its path. Oklahoma and Texas were also hammered by damaging twisters. Joplin, Mo. — Beverly Winans hugs her daughter Debbie Surlin while salvaging items from the Winans' devastated home. Winans and her husband rode out the EF-5 tornado by hiding under a bed in the home. The tornado tore through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses and killing at least 122 people. President Obama greets residents affected by the devastating tornado that hit the small Midwestern city a week ago. Obama travelled to Joplin also to participate in a memorial service for those killed, estimated at 139 people. The Rev. Bill Pape prepares for an outdoor church service after Peace Lutheran Church was destroyed in the massive tornado. |
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view Tornadoes plague the Midwest as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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As the California Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown cutting billions of dollars in government services to help balance the state budget, nowhere are the effects likely to be felt more deeply than in Tulare County. It has become the Golden State’s welfare capital. Nearly a quarter of the population in this Central Valley agricultural region lives in poverty, and one in three residents receives state aid. Unemployment – among the highest in the state – remains on the rise. Local officials fear that residents already pushed into poverty might now tumble into homelessness. For Patricia Dickerson, a mother of five who has been unable to find work since losing her job two years ago, another reduction in her monthly welfare check could mean a shutoff of her electricity. Last week, she clutched a romance novel while waiting in a line at a county welfare office. At home, a stack of letters from the state has gone unread. “My fantasy,” she said, holding up the book. “I don’t like to read bad news right now.” Terry Dickerson, 4, crawls down a hallway on her way to bed. She shares a bed with her mother and sister. Mark Dickerson puts up a sheet over the front windows as daughters Koreena, Terry and Keera play before bedtime. |
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view Poverty Makes Tulare County California’s Welfare Capital as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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Star City, Russia — U.S. space tourist Richard Garriott, second from left, and his girlfriend, Laetita Pichot de Cayeux, right, go for a dive during their visit to Russia's Star City cosmonaut training camp outside Moscow. Garriott, a U.S. video game magnate, paid $35 million for a 12-day space adventure in October 2008. Manila — A resident swims among debris and rubbish looking for recyclable materials after a fire gutted informal settlements overnight in Malabon City outside of Manila. About a thousand residents were affected by the fire, but no casualties were reported. Aintree, United Kingdom — Baby Run ridden by Willie Twiston-Davies, center, jumps over the chair fence on the way to winning the Fox Hunters steeple chase at Aintree, northern England. |
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view Pictures in the News for April 7, 2011 as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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Redondo Beach officials said initial assessments suggest oxygen depletion in the King Harbor basins caused the massive fish die-off. “Every indication is that this is a naturally occurring event,” a state Fish and Game official said. “It’s just a mess. It’s going to smell for a while, but the city’s doing a great job with the cleanup.” Redondo Beach workers use a huge vacuum hose to collect dead fish from the rocks and water in King Harbor. Michael Patton, a lobster fisherman who lives in King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, carries a bucket of dead fish that he intends to use for lobster bait. Workers at King Harbor inject air into the water to break up the layer of dead fish on the bottom. Hand crews use nets to scoop up the fish. |
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view Massive Fish Die-off in King Harbor Marina as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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